Thompson Elementary fourth graders travel to Waco and Austin on an Education in Action Discover Texas Field Trip
Fourth graders from Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD’s Thompson Elementary traveled to Waco and Austin on an Education in Action Discover Texas Field Trip April 21, 2017 to experience what they are learning in fourth grade Texas History. Students visited the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, the Texas State Capitol, and the Bullock Texas State History Museum.
During the charter bus ride to their first destination, the students discussed why Texans are so proud of their unique heritage and participated in activities and games in preparation for their day. At their first stop, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, students learned the history of the Texas Rangers and explored exhibits about Texas’s earliest inhabitants and its many unique geographical regions. They then traveled to Austin to see the Texas State Capitol where their legislators, The Honorable Jane Nelson, State Senator, District 12 and The Honorable Ron Simmons, State Representative, District 65, office. Students saw first-hand where Texas laws are made as they toured the State Capitol including the Senate and House of Representatives chambers. At the Bullock Texas State History Museum students traveled in time through the Texas Revolution and learned about the events that created our Lone Star identity. The students’ visit to the museum concluded at the multi-sensory Texas Spirit Theater with the Star of Destiny where they saw and experienced the history of our great state including a gusher exploding from an East Texas oil derrick and the takeoff of Saturn V as seen from Mission Control at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“Education in Action’s Discover Texas Field Trips are based on the understanding that the most effective way for students to learn is through experience,” stated Lacey Phillips, Discover Texas Field Trips Director. “Student activities during the Discover Texas Field Trip to Austin reinforce and supplement fourth grade Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) learning objectives with a focus on why Texans are so proud of their unique heritage.”
Education in Action’s Discover Texas Field Trips make it easy for teachers to take their 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classrooms on organized, fun, and educational site-based learning experiences. Discover Texas Field Trip staff members handle all details, including round-trip charter bus transportation, reservations, and TEKS-based program curriculum, so participating teachers can focus on their students and making connections between the experience and what students are learning in the classroom.
Discover Texas Field Trips are presented by Education in Action, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to fostering educated and involved young people. In addition to one-day Discover Texas Field Trips to Austin, San Antonio, Waco/Georgetown, Dallas, and Fort Worth, Education in Action also offers summer Lone Star Leadership Academy camps for outstanding 4th-8th graders. During the weeklong, overnight camps, participants experience significant Texas sites in Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin/San Antonio, or Houston/Galveston with Texas educators and a focus on leadership. For more information about Education in Action visit www.educationinaction.org.
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